Wow. I've seen only six of those, and I've never even heard of a couple of others. Hurray for Wexford and Buxton. I've heard La Favorite (wearing its Italian clothes) a number of times and would dearly love to see a production of that one.

Waitresses in skimpy costumes and blue tights...just what Verdi wanted. Ever since these simulcasts started, I've been waiting for Rigoletto. And when it finally does come, what do we get? The Rat Pack. Bleaggh.

But Lucic was fantastic...oh, he was good! It was well worth putting up with the Las Vegas glitz just to hear him. Beczala had a rocky start but quickly settled into the role. Diana Damrau sings real purty but she can't act worth a hoot. All of which is just IMO, of course.

My local showing was sold out so I haven't seen the Rigoletto. I would offer the thought, though, that "what Verdi wanted" isn't really an applicable standard to apply to any production. I am pretty sure he would be horrified by ANY production of the last century or thereabouts, even those we regard as "traditional." He would not recognize the assumptions about instruments, conducting, voices, scenic design, venue, language, acting that we regard as normal now.

That doesn't mean that there can't be productions that are just bad on their own terms, of course, or that are an unacceptable mismatch to the text.

Rita, your IMO is pretty good, methinks. There were some clever touches in the production. Rigoletto wore an Argyle sweater suggestive of a jester's motley. "Pari siamo" was not sung on an empty stage but to a barman, because everybody tells his troubles to the bartender. But such touches were superficial and insufficient to justify the setting, which fit neither the story nor the music. If someone in the 60s cursed another man, he'd either get a punch in the mouth for his trouble or the curse would be shrugged off as petulant foolishness. It would not cause the absolute terror that Rigoletto feels. While the opera has a lot of jaunty music in it, it's not the brassy, simple stuff we associate with Las Vegas. It just wasn't a fit.

In his interview, Lucic indicated without dwelling on it that he was just going along with this present production while his preference was for the traditional approach, no matter how many Rat Pack apologists were interviewed. (The last time I saw Lucic, he was singing Macbeth in another "updated" production.) All three leads were great, once "Questa o quella" had been conquered, but Lucic was greater than great. He was exciting to listen to, and I'm glad I didn't miss this misproduced performance.